It's More Than That
by waywardbard
Summary: A short-lived fic relay prompt featuring the unrequited love of Remus Lupin and Lily Evans, written circa 2006.
1. Chapter 1

**Keywords:** Contemplating Lily's knickers, radio jingles, soap, an enclosed space that isn't a closet, a word that rolls off one's tongue.

Perhaps it hadn't been in the original design of the place, but there was a frequently visited spot in the boys' showers of Gryffindor tower. It was so popular, in fact, that a timetable had been constructed for its use. Each slot was fifteen minutes, thirty if it was on the weekend, holiday, or free period. Said place was the fourth privacy stall. And the reason behind it? A peep-hole which lead directly into the girls' shower of Gryffindor tower.

It was rude. It was terrible invasive. It was one place Remus John Lupin just _did not_ patronize. Oh sure, he'd thought about it. What school boy didn't have a good wank with a bit of 'visual aide', but their _classmates?_. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. Which was all fine and well, as James and Sirius spent enough time in there that his imagination made up for the lack of 'visual aide'.

Remus washed his face under the shower head, blindly returning the bar of soap to the plate just above the spigot. The showers were always loud enough that you couldn't hear anything. One of the lads had a wireless that was playing, and the lot of them were joking, laughing, talking about class, sometimes singing along with the song. A carefree bunch, the Gryffindor boys.

Later, Remus would remember just what had happened when he overheard Sirius' shout through the privacy stall.

"_No muss, no fuss, and no more stress / We'll help remove your magical mess!_" the radio jingled out, all bells and tinkly xylophones. "Mrs. Scower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover! Owl now and receive an additional bottle for free! That's an eight galleon special for the price of-"

"I _KNEW_ she wore red knickers!" Came Sirius voice, a laugh dancing in it. Remus stuck his head under the water.

"Who wears red knickers, Padfoot?" James asked from the sink, shaving what little whiskers he had from his face. He'd had points taken for leaving his face unshaven in Transfiguration despite his 'budding manhood', and rather than push the old bird's limits, he'd reluctantly agreed to keep his face shaven.

"Evans!" Sirius shouted in answer. Remus promptly dropped the soap upon his attempt at grabbing for it, and got a bit of shampoo in his eyes as well. He heard James give a yelp, most likely nicking himself in the face in his rush to stop and get to the privacy stall at running speed.

"GET THE HELL OUT, YOU WANKER!"

"NO WAY, I'VE STILL GOT EIGHT MINUTES LEFT!"

Clear of the offending suds, Remus turned his face towards the privacy stall. James had managed to pull the door free of its lock, a few neighbouring lads who'd come to watch the scuffle and laugh shouting in indignation at him.

"OI SHUT UP THE LOT OF YOU, I'LL FIX IT!" James snapped harshly. Remus twisted the water off quickly and grabbed for his towel, hastily making his way to the privacy screen. The two were scrambling in an attempt to push each other out of the way, and Sirius appeared to have the upper hand.

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

"James, FUCK OFF CHRIST, You're next at any-"

"I'LL PAY YOU FOR IT, COME ON PADS!"

Sirius grabbed James' head, bouncing it forcefully off the stall's wall. Remus elbowed his way through the slowly-growing circle of boys.

"Both of you, knock it off!" Remus shouted over the cheers of the other lads. Sirius had given up looking into the peep-hole altogether, grabbing James at every attempted dive for it to fight the boy. The next hit bloodied James' lip and gave him a black eye, and at that point Remus finally stepped in, pushing between the two of them, his towel threatening to fall off.

"STOP, FOR MERLIN'S SAKE!" He shouted, grabbing James around the middle and wrenching him out through the stall.

"Oi Potter, if you're going to the infirmary can I have your fifteen?" came Nick Masterson's voice.

"LIKE HELL, YOU TOSSER!" James shouted angrily, fighting Remus' grip. Remus pulled him along with effort, the back of James' head hitting him viciously in the chin.

"JAMES!" Remus shouted directly in his ear, pushing his shoulder between the other boy's shoulder blades in an attempt to direct him out through the door. "Fuckin' hell, I swear to Merlin that if you don't stop I will HEX YOUR DAMN EYELIDS SHUT."

He'd managed to wrestle James all the way into the fifth year dorms, and it was only once the door was shut that James finally gave up, giving Remus a scathing look. His cheek had a deep gash in it, no doubt from the nick.

"God, you idiot, it's just KNICKERS!" Remus said harshly, going to sit on the end of his bed near his trunk to get out a pair of pants and trousers.

"You don't even know what it's like," James replied in a similar tone, grabbing up a handkerchief from the drawer of his bedside table. Remus shook his head and muttered under his breath as James continued on.

"I've fancied that girl since second year, all right? Fuckin' love the woman, despite how mad she is. Won't even give me the time of-"

"Yeah well, James, girls don't exactly _like it_ when you're a big headed bastard around them every time they're within sight," Remus interrupted, pulling his pants on over his hips and ridding himself of the towel. He stood, putting one leg through his trousers.

"What are you on about, Moony?" James snapped irritably. Remus rolled his eyes to the heavens.

"I'm saying that if you actually bloody _liked_ her, you wouldn't just be thinking about her arse and tits!"

"If you'd seen 'em, you'd know _exactly_ why-" James started, but Remus brought his hand up to silence him.

"Spare me," he said, buttoning up his shirt and grabbing his tie from where it hung around the lamp. "I really could do without hearing about Lily naked." Remus pulled on his jumper, heading for the door. "I've got Arithmancy, I'll see you later."

* * *

><p>Arithmancy was perhaps one of two classes Remus didn't have with the rest of the Marauders. As much as he loved his friends, he loved the short break from them. Granted, it wasn't the most 'enjoyable' of breaks, as Arithmancy proved to be one of the hardest classes to keep up a better-than-average mark in, but Remus didn't care. He enjoyed the formulas, the discussions, the note taking.<p>

Most of all, he enjoyed Lily Evans sharing his table.

Remus had kept the knowledge from James for all of third year, but upon Lily asking them at the boys' table in the library if he'd had the last lecture notes James had finally found out. He'd pestered Remus for a week, trying to convince him to get information out of her, or pass her a note, or speak _for him_, just anything to get a foot in the door, but Remus had refused outright. He _liked_ Lily. Not just liked, but really respected her. She was a brilliant witch, completely dedicated to her classwork. And besides, in Arithmancy you had to fully concentrate. If you missed one letter in the formula, you could end up writing the entire thing wrong. It was very precise work.

Twelve minutes into the class Professor Sagitta assigned them a formula to decode, leaving them to their work for the remainder of the half hour. Remus moved his dry quill tip beneath the letters, numbers, and symbols, brows knitted in focus as he looked for the pattern. Despite himself, he gave a sidelong look at Lily. Her ponytail had fallen over her shoulder, and in her concentration she bit her lip. Remus brought his eyes quickly back to the formula, his face feeling suddenly and uncomfortably warm.

_Red knickers,_ he thought foggily, eyes re-reading the same part of the formula for the third time. _Always saw her more of the pale blue.._

"Norse," came the murmur at his left. Remus turned to look at her again, his expression slightly confused. Lily turned to meet his gaze, the left corner of her mouth quirking in a smile. Remus shifted in his seat.

"Ansuz, thirteen, 'S', it's a Norse formula."

"Ah," Remus said in answer, looking back down at the copied formula on his parchment. It _was_ Norse.

"Thanks," he muttered in answer, looking back up to her. She was fully smiling now, her lips a soft curve. Remus felt a wonderful little swoop in his stomach.

"No problem," Lily replied, one finger coming up to curl a flyaway behind her ear. She returned her own eyes to her parchment and Remus followed the example, though for the life of him the only he could think about were pale blue knickers and Lily's pale, naked legs.

* * *

><p>James had practice that night, and Sirius and Peter had chosen to come and watch him. Remus had taken the idea to thought for a whole two minutes before politely declining, remembering that he'd yet to decode the formula from that afternoon. The lads had gone off laughing, leaving Remus to his work.<p>

The only problem with that, however, was that Remus was finding it quite difficult to concentrate. The events of the early morning continued to haunt his brain, images sifting unbidding without any care at all to his homework. He frowned, pressed his head against his book, groaned in frustration and got off his bed. Boldness lead him straight to the showers, and onward still to the timetable. The names had been magically erased as they'd came and gone, though the next name on the list, Bobby Towler, had been written over. 'CANCEL', the word said.

It was as if the Gods of Wank had deliberately brought him here to see it.

Remus hastily looked over his shoulder, checking if the coast was clear before heading towards the privacy stall. The door had since been fixed, and remained unlocked and open when he checked it. Checking over his shoulder one last time, Remus quickly entered, locking the door soundly behind him. His heart was hammering wildly in his ears, and yet despite the fact that he was ready to turn right around and run back to his bed to shut and silence the curtains, he was getting hard. The entire shower was silent. It was almost unnatural.

Remus licked his lips nervously, taking a seat at the chair in front of the drain. The little stall was kept remarkably clean except for the wall around the peep-hole, which was covered with graffiti carved into the tile. Names with times scratched underneath - most likely routine shower periods - as well as vulgarities and the like. Remus ignored them, pulling the seat forward and positioning himself in front of the peep-hole. He moved his hands down to his belt, unfastening automatically, one hand slipping just inside.

His heart promptly slammed into the front of his ribcage. There, just through the peep-hole, completely naked and alone in the fog of the shower, was Lily Evans.

"Oh god," Remus hissed immediately, unable to look away. Hadn't she already taken a shower that day? She must've, Sirius had said he'd seen her!

Unless he'd been lying just to take the mickey out of James.

"Oh god," Remus said again, louder this time, his fingers wrapping around his cock.

Lily stood underneath the shower, eyes closed, moving a bar of soap over her body. The lather foamed pearly against the faint tint of her skin, water making short the time it rested against her. She must've been nearly finished, as he could see no traces of soap in her water-heavy hair. She quarter-turned, and Remus watched as if in a trance, mesmerized by the freckled skin, the pale peach of her nipples, the wet red curls between her legs. Remus pumped furiously, fuelled by some unknown drive, squeezing and rolling his thumb over his cockhead, his breath coming in quick gasps. If he focused hard enough he could almost smell her soap, something faintly smelling of strawberries, the scent of her sometimes reaching his nose in class. He imagined her hand on him, or better yet the form of her between his knees, naked and dripping from the hot water, her hands moving to his cock, head bowed over him.

The Gods of Wank appeared to have approved of this train of thought, as just then - without any knowledge that she was being watched - Lily's hand drifted between her legs.

It was all Remus could do to keep from coming right then.

He forced himself to slow despite the scream of his urges in his ears, his eyes wide as he watched her, entranced. She moved her hand above to the shower head, repositioning it so that when she leaned against the wall of the shower, the water hit her just above her breasts. She moved her feet apart, using the wall as a prop, her hand moving in a fast, circling motion. Remus subconsciously matched her pace, hips bucking in sympathy with her, ears filled with the sound of his own heartbeat and breathing. He strained to listen, desperate, making out the sound of the water at least but also something higher. A whimper. His balls tightened.

"Oh god," Remus breathed harshly, unable to stop the pace of his hand from going up another notch.

Even in the heat of the water, Remus could see her cheeks flushing darker with the act. Her eyes were screwed shut, head turning on the wall, tilting her hips as if knowing the timing of his thrusts into his hand. And just as he could feel his balls pulling up into him, the first sign of his quickly arriving orgasm, he heard it:

"_Remus._"

Her voice. The word rolling of her tongue as if he were a god, some sort of being to pray to, and Remus came so hard that he thought he saw white behind his eyelids. He leaned his head against the wall and gasped, hand slick with his own spunk, ears just barely picking up the sound of her own orgasm through the little peep-hole. Remus opened his eye at the peep-hole again, looking through it, watching her turn off the water and reach for her towel. She moved languidly, a tired but happy look on her face, draping the towel over a bench as she reached for her clothes. Blue knickers. Just as he'd thought.

"Almost done in there, mate?" came a voice on the other side. Remus jumped, the chair clattering on the floor as he hastily stood. He moved to the door, opening it, praying that it wasn't Sirius, or worse James. _If there is a God, let it be Peter. Or someone else. Anyone else._

It was Davin Lee, a boy two years older than he was. Remus relaxed instantly, though the other boy looked at him with a confused look.

"You're not Bobby," he said. Remus shook his head.

"Bobby cancelled."

"Oh damn, If I'd've known that I'd've came earlier," Davin groaned, moving aside to let Remus through. The other boy grabbed for his wand, shooting a Scouring charm at the wall. Most likely a rule of thumb, or something. Remus didn't care. He stumbled on through the doorway and back towards his bed.

Perhaps he wouldn't ever sign his name on the timetable on the wall, but Remus made a point to look for cancellations from that day on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Keywords:** smoke, a black eye, a bad euphemism for sex, boredom, the smell of lemon.

It was so obvious that he was high. It might've been a shock to learn how they'd gotten narcotics on the grounds had it been anyone else. Lily frowned, walking silently at James Potter's side. He'd came along all right, at least. She hadn't had to hex him along. Which only reinforced how high he really was. She could smell the strange smoke on him, it clung to his clothes. Every so often he giggled, the sound like nails on a blackboard. _Just one more floor, and he'll be out of your hands and into McGonagall's._

"D'we have to go to McGees, Evans?" came James voice at her side. It had been the first time he'd spoken since she'd caught him sneaking along the third floor corridor towards the staircases. He'd tried to argue his way out of it, said he got lost going to the bathroom. Two floors down? Lily had asked. Very lost, James had answered.

"Yes, Potter," Lily replied, struggling to keep from grinding her teeth together._Just one more floor,_she told herself again, the words a litany.

"It's not like I was doing anything wrong-"

"Only being out of bed late and being toasted out of your mind," Lily interrupted. James moved in front of her, making her stop instantly. Lily's frown deepened. Part of her wondered why she even tried to take him in at all sometimes, seeing as he always argued or tried to escape. The few times he'd agreed, he'd spent most of the way to McGonagall's office sexually harassing her. Like then, for instance.

"All I woz doing woz gettin' a bit of medicine from.. from the Infirmary. 'Cause I wozn't sleepin'."

"Then why did you lie?" Lily asked sharply, looking straight up into his face. She hated how he'd gotten so tall over the summer; it had been easy staring him down when he was at least eye-level with her. He flashed her a cheeky grin, giggling again.

"I forgot?"

"Nice try, berkface. Now turn around and keep walking," Lily said. He refused to move, the expression in his eyes changing a little.

"S'there anything I can do or say to change your mind?" he asked, taking a step forward. Lily's eyes widened slightly, her expression changing to a grimace as she took a step back in kind.

"No!"

"How 'bout I gild your lily?" James continued on as if he hadn't even heard her. Lily stared at him in confusion, completely lost. Gild her lily? Was that some sort of joke?

"You're mad."

"For you," James replied, stepping closer again. Lily took another step back, though for some reason God or whatever higher being out there had decided to put a wall just behind her. Panic immediately welled up in her. Lily looked up into James' face yet again. He looked like the cat who caught the canary. She reached for her wand, but his hand came up to stop her halfway.

"C'mon. A bit of in-and-out. You could use it. I'll even promise not to sneak out again."

Now those words sounded a bit more familiar. Lily's face flushed in embarrassment.

"I'll give you two seconds to get your slimy mitts off of me, or you're going to regret it, Potter," Lily hissed. James giggled again, his eyes red-rimmed behind his glasses.

"Wotcha gonna do, hmm? I've got you surrounded."

He was leaning in, his mouth only a few inches from hers. She knew exactly what she was going to do. Without even thinking about it, Lily brought her knee up between his legs. James fell like a rock, howling in pain. Lily pushed herself off the wall, unforgiving as she cast the body-bind on him.

"Don't move, Potter," she said aloud, barely resisting the urge to smirk at him. "I'm sure McGonagall will cast the counter-charm on you once I tell her where to find you."

* * *

><p>"You're lucky she didn't punch you in the face, you idiot," Sirius said around a bit of toast, his face twisted in a rueful smile.<p>

"Lucky?" James whimpered, staring at Sirius incredulously. Peter grabbed for the jam tart on the edge of James' plate while he wasn't looking. Remus tried very hard to keep a straight face altogether.

"Could've gotten a bit of glass in your eye. Much worse than a shiner," Remus added, spreading a bit of jam on his muffin. "I still don't see why you don't get your eyes corrected at St. Mungo's. Wouldn't it be easier for Quidditch?"

"Girls like blokes with glasses! It makes me look intellectual!" James replied. Sirius barked in laughter.

"Just because Lily's last boyfriend had glasses doesn't mean she dated him because he was brainy. I mean, hell, he was Head Boy," Sirius said, finishing a piece of bacon in two bites. James frowned a little, going quiet.

Remus would have liked to have added that perhaps if James didn't do things like fill Severus Snape's rucksack with day-old custard that perhaps he'd have a better chance at getting Lily Evans to go out with him, but he knew what Sirius would say (and do) if he did. The Marauders usually humoured him on his, quote, "unique point of view" on women, but when it came to the Endless Battle of Potter versus Evans, he was always wrong. Remus speared a tomato with his fork, popping it into his mouth before pushing the rest of his plate away.

"I've got tutoring, I'll see you later."

"Thank you for this," Lily said quietly, moving her chair a bit closer.

Remus smiled faintly. "S'fine. I know what it's like, getting sick. Except I've nobody to get notes from if I do. Sirius and James never keep notes, and Peter's writing resembles that of a right-handed person writing with their left hand."

Lily laughed quietly, her eyes darting back and forth between her parchment and his as she wrote. "I never get sick, that's the thing. I reckon I'm lucky I was only out through the weekend and Monday."

"What a crap way to spend your weekend," Remus commented, frowning in sympathy. Lily shrugged a little, smiling but not looking at him.

"I had a bit of time to catch up on some reading, in-between blowing my nose that is."

There was a lengthy pause as Lily continued to write. Remus watched her quill with muted fascination. It was almost funny, how his tight, tidy scrawl could blossom into the curving loops of Lily's handwriting. She even wrote prettily. Remus looked back at the open book in front of him, speed reading to find where he'd left off.

"What's this bit right here? I can't read it," Lily asked softly. Remus looked over to where she indicated, squinting at the words.

"'Until it smells of lemon,'" Remus answered, looking up to meet her eyes. It was almost unnerving, how close she was. He could make out the shape of her irises. Remus swallowed. "Why didn't you ask for Slughorn to give you the notes? I'm sure he'd've hand-written them for you."

Lily smiled, ducking her head in order to continue writing. "Never thought of it, I suppose. You're the first person who popped into my head to ask."

Remus felt a wonderful little swoop in his belly. He'd been the first person she thought of, even before any of her friends. _Well, you're friends, aren't you?_his inner voice asked.

"So, are you going to Hogsmeade this Friday?" Lily asked. Remus looked over at her. She continued to write, though he could make out a faint blush in her cheeks. Why was she blushing? Didn't that mean something, blushing?

"Don't see why not," He said slowly, watching her. "I need to buy another bottle of ink anyway. And I'm sure the lads'll want to pop into Zonko's for a bit."

Lily gave a breath of a laugh, casting a sidelong look at him. "You don't go anywhere without them, do you?"

"I do," Remus replied defensively. Lily put her quill down, turning to look straight at him. He felt his insides give a little wiggle at the look in her eye. Daring, almost, if one didn't take in the fact that she was blushing.

"Oh really? Name one time."

"Err.." Remus said, his mind inconveniently blank. He picked at it viciously, trying to recall an incident he'd gone anywhere without Sirius, Peter or James. "Well.. Prefect rounds-"

"That doesn't count, that's obligatory," Lily interrupted, a smirk in the left corner of her mouth. Remus swallowed again.

"Well I.. err.. Okay, fine," Remus said at last, "Except for obligatory classes without them, summer hols and prefect rounds, and perhaps a trip to the loo, no. I don't go anywhere without them. But what's the harm in that?"

Lily shrugged, turning back to her notes. Remus stared dumbfounded.

"Think maybe you'd be willing to lose them for an hour?" she asked. Another swoop assaulted Remus' insides. Was she asking him to go with her to Hogsmeade?

"Er."

"You're quite the articulate one, aren't you?" Lily asked, looking up at him again with a smile. Remus felt his mouth working, but nothing came out. _Oh god, how humiliating._

"I'll make it easy for you," Lily said, re-capping her inkwell and sliding the quill into the sleek metal tube. "If you can't, shake your head 'no.' If you can, nod-"

Remus nodded immediately and vigorously. Lily's smile widened.

"Good. Meet me at Scrivenshaft's, then. We'll take a walk, or something." Lily rolled up the parchment and sealed it with a tap, putting the contents of her desk space into her rucksack. Remus watched, unable to vocalize any of his thoughts, not that he had a whole lot of them to begin with. She had asked him out. They were going to spend time together outside of class and prefects rounds. Alone.

Then she did the most unexpected thing. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Remus' eyes widened as she stood up.

_Say something! Anything, you idiot!_

"Nngrn."

Lily grinned at him. "See you," she said, shouldering the strap of her bag and heading down the narrow aisles towards the double-doored exit to the Library. Remus sat stock still, gaze unfocused. She'd kissed him. They were going out. This had to be a dream. He moved his hand mechanically to his arm, pinching the skin between his thumb and forefinger.

"Ouch."

Something of a grin finally slid onto his face. Friday. Four more days. How he was going to make it through the week without telling anyone, he had no idea.


End file.
